To affirm that Missiology happens at the crossroads, border-gates, or simply at the borders, can be interpreted as a negative statement - born out of a crisis. This is understandable. When popular media reports on matters related to people at the crossroads or at the borders - people on the move, in particular as refugees or migrants, then it strengthens this interpretation. Indeed, when xenophobia explodes into the streets or when communities hunt the outsider down, it spills over into the images and stories shared - or better, sold.

The main purpose of the paper is to draw some contours of a theology of migration. The specific focus in the paper is on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which constitutes a very complex situation of human migration from neighbouring countries to South Africa. The praxis cycle is called into service to construct a theology of migration informed by insertion, context analysis, theological reflection and strategic planning. The main thesis of the paper is that a theology of migration should as a bare minimum reflect the following dimensions: a theological theology, i.e. the language about God in the context of migration, a narrative theology, a liturgical-communal theology and an intercultural and interreligious theology. The proposal offered on strategic planning is aimed at the radical transformation of relationships between South Africans and migrants.

This paper investigates the intensification of the scope of migrant theology by forced removals in the 1960s and 1970s in South Africa. Forced removals in South Africa were carried out by the white government, especially in the late 1950s and 1960s, with the support of the white churches (particularly white Afrikaans churches) underpinned by a series of laws which entrenched racial segregation and inequality and which led to millions of black peoples being forced to leave their ancestral land and white cities to live in barren and overcrowded places. The policy of forced removals accompanied by its resultant reprisals led to a mass exodus of many black people going to settle in the neighbouring countries either to join the arms struggle or further their studies abroad. Those who remained in the country were forced to resist the policy either through violent protest or peaceful resistance. The policy led to black people developing theologies of survival in the country of their birth since they were exposed to a condition of poverty, exploitation and alienation from their cultural heritage, while ensuring exclusive privileges to whites in the country. The paper seeks to investigate how the migrants developed a theology of resistance amidst their dislocation and the heavy-handedness of the government.

The author suggests that theological education should be considered as mission in itself: mission as theological education. This is important because of his understanding of the development of mission history, which he regards as coming full circle. He illustrates his argument with reference to a case study of ecumenical co-operation in missiological education between the University of South Africa (Unisa) and the Gesellschaft für Bildung und Forschung (GBFE) in Germany.

The missionary institutionalization of the Church of Christ, ipso facto, the formation of the Bantu Presbyterian Church in South Africa (BPC), is a tale of ambivalence and 'original' defects of faith in a visible form of a Church. A product of the Scottish missionary enterprise in South Africa, the BPC is a tale of unequal racist relations between white and black - a tale of 'naming' and 'practical considerations' at the whims and desires of those who transplanted the gospel in this land. While this paper presents the history of the BPC's formation, its purpose is illustrative. By the time of its formation in 1923, two distinct approaches to the gospel were already in existence: a white, anaemic interpretation of the gospel and a black critical and refusing one. The paper therefore argues that 'blackness' is not to be found in colonizing and coercing missionary institutions such as in the formation of the BPC, but in the irruption of a faith that refused patronage, rejected racial inequality and signification by others.

Polygamy is a phenomenon often associated with African people. In almost all African societies, polygamy is an acceptable and valid form of marriage - in fact, monogamy has been associated with people of lower social status. Proponents of polygamy have claimed that the more wives a man has, the more children he is likely to have, and the more children, the greater the chances that the family will enjoy immortality. This is indicative of the high regard in which the tradition is held by some African people (men in particular). The theological thinking of various Christian denominations is divided on the subject of polygamy. The intention of this article is to investigate the way in which African people have conceptualised polygamy, and how the Christian church has dealt with it. In particular, I will explore and present and argument on whether polygamy can still be regarded as acceptable in contemporary Christian communities.

This article attempts to make a contribution to the discourse of missiology by engaging critically with the much debated studies of theology and development. The two widely used definitions of development are analysed to point out commonalities and weaknesses. A theology of relationality is then introduced with reference to the Trinity, relationships and personhood. Some pointers then emerged to form a more integral understanding of development. I then make some connections between human and social development and the Trinity and perichoresis and to point out the missiological and ecclesiological implications for the mission of the church.

As secularism entrenches itself in a still-new South Africa, alternative ecclesial forms will continue to spark interest among people looking for renewal within - and without - the church. The promise of one such form, the 'new monasticism', merits study not only because of its predecessor's responses under historical empires but also due to its present moment under the Empire of state capitalism. Following some discussions on context, the article explores the movement from a missional perspective: its Anabaptist antecedents, its lay-monastic heritage and North American origin. Two concrete examples are described, with cultural commentary. The remainder of the article questions the movement's relevance for South Africa, evaluating some of the conditions conducive to its local establishment. Despite a negative assessment hope is nonetheless held out for intentional Christian communities, primarily in respect of their visibility.

In this concise book, the eight contributors reflect on the various facets of the contextual missiological training in Asian religious frameworks. Their shared conviction which underlies the whole study is that holistic theological-cultural formation should enable Christian theology students as well as mission workers and practitioners to explore critically and engage skilfully with the multiple religious contexts of Asia, including Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism. Lack of such a formation is blamed for the often minimal success that Christian missions from the West have had hitherto in impacting the religious worlds of Asia.

Here we have the 'official record' of the proceedings of the 2010 Edinburgh study process and conference to mark the centenary of the 1901 World Missionary Conference. This will be a primary source of reference for this conference for many years to come along with the fuller record contained in the Edinburgh 2010 website - www.edinburgh2010.org.

A number of books have appeared over the past few years in which a Christian response to poverty is discussed. In 1977 Ronald Sider's groundbreaking book, Rich Christians in an age of Hunger was published with David Chilton's response which appeared four years later, Productive Christians in an age of Guilt Manipulators. Other titles which also grapple with the same topic include When Charity destroys Dignity (Glenn Schwartz), To Give or not to Give (John Rowell) and When Helping Hurts (Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert) to name but a few. In his 2011 revised and expanded edition of Walking with the Poor (the first edition appeared in 1999), Bryant Myers focuses on, what he describes as transformational development.

The authors of this book are acknowledged experts in the field of church planting and the fruits of their experience and reflection are presented here as a guide to church planting in cross cultural contexts. This is a practical text which is based in solid biblical principles, missiological understanding from a particular perspective which not all will share. Yet, combining current trends and best practices, it offers a descriptive analysis of a variety of models and processes in church planting which missionaries can employ to multiply churches. In addition, a number of novel approaches are innovative foci are adopted including short-term teams, partnerships, careful use of resources and contextualisation. The work is enhanced by the used of many case studies from many countries and is founded on a parable of the apple trees.

Redford's book is an exploration of how the Bible and mission inform missiologists and missionaries in hermeneutical practice. The author gives shape to the nature of missiological hermeneutics by examining the Bible, cultural values, historical struggles and experiences of people who are engaged in the mission of God. The book is structured into six chapters. Chapter one examines how others have defined missiological hermeneutics. Chapter two examines missiological hermeneutics in the Bible itself. Chapter three is a critique of Western hermeneutics from a missiological perspective. In chapter four, the discussion moves in a more practical direction. The focus is on polygamy and how Western missionaries brought cultural presuppositions regarding marriage into Africa. Redford's argument is that it is Western cultural baggage that firstly, prevents polygamous marriage among African Christians, and secondly, forces African converts who were in polygamous marriages before conversion, to divorce, which in his thinking, is a far greater sin than polygamy. In chapter five, Redford deals with the role of missionary experience in relation to biblical interpretation and in chapter six, he emphasizes the importance of a cross-cultural ministry experience in understanding the Bible correctly.

This book attempts to provide an overview of what has come to be known as the missional church conversation in North America during the past decade. It begins with a discussion of the 1998 publication of Missional church and seeks to show how the conversation has developed in North America since the publication of this work. It also points towards perspectives that might extend this conversation.